Billy's Turn: Best Director, 1945

We came to 1945 for the same reason we came to 1944: to explore all the years where Alfred Hitchcock was nominated for Best Director. This was his third nomination overall, for his second film under the auspices of producer David O. Selznick. The two admired each other, but both laid heavy hands in their work, so it's little surprise that, despite technically working for Selznick, Hitch made more films on loan to other studios during their seven years "together." Spellbound, fortunately, was a huge hit, the third greatest earner of the year in the US, while breaking box office records twice over in London.

Hitchcock found himself up for Best Director in a rare 3/5 repeat of the previous year's Best Director lineup:

Clarence Brown, National Velvet

Alfred Hitchcock, Spellbound

Leo McCarey, The Bells of St. Mary's

Jean Renoir, The Southerner

Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend

The year before, Hitchcock, McCarey, and Wilder were all nominated, with McCarey winning; this year, Wilder would come out the winner. Hitchcock and Wilder were up against each other twice more, which we'll get into next month. In the meantime, my rankings, from fifth to first:

The Big Winner: Best Picture, 1945

Like its leading man, The Lost Weekend was inevitable. Indeed, in a time when the Golden Globes had winners only, the NYFCC didn't always have runner-ups, and the National Board of Review could give its top prize to documentaries, The Lost Weekend is the only film of any of these five to appear on other contemporary Best Picture lists!

Your nominees for the 18th Academy Awards' Best Motion Picture of the Year:

Anchors Aweigh

The Bells of St. Mary's

The Lost Weekend

Mildred Pierce

Spellbound

My rankings, from fifth to first:

The Comeback: Best Supporting Actor, 1945

These are your nominees for Best Supporting Actor at the 18th Academy Awards:

Michael Chekhov, Spellbound

John Dall, The Corn is Green

James Dunn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Robert Mitchum, Story of GI Joe

J. Carrol Naish, A Medal for Benny

Let's go through them one by one.

Michael Chekhov was a Russian actor and director who studied under the legendary acting teacher Stanislavski; he was also the nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov. As an acting teacher, his work influenced Marilyn Monroe, Elia Kazan, Yul Brynner, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp, and more. Spellbound was his fourth Hollywood film, having come to America when "tensions" broke out in Europe. He plays Dr. Alexander Brulov, an old mentor of Ingrid Bergman’s heroine, who provides a safe haven and professional advice to help her.

John Dall was a young American stage actor who starred in both the touring and Broadway productions of The Eve of St. Mark, a performance that earned him a screen test with Warner Bros, which led to his film debut, The Corn is Green. He plays Morgan Evans, a young Welsh miner who seems consigned to a life of work and drink until he starts taking classes with the new schoolteacher Miss Moffat, who sees in him a preternatural gift for writing.

James Dunn was a born-and-bred Manhattanite who, as a child, cut classes to go to the movies; as an adult, he joined theatrical troupes and eventually landed the lead in Sweet Adeline on Broadway, which led to his contract with Fox. He made his debut as the leading man in Frank Borzage's Bad Girl, which was nominated for Best Picture and won Best Director and Best Adaptation. Despite this and a trio of hits with Shirley Temple, his star waned as he sank deeper into alcoholism. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was his comeback film, playing the loving patriarch of an impoverished family, a struggling actor who drinks too much. He won the Academy Award.

A boxer, a steelworker, a writer, a lyricist, and an actor, Robert Mitchum had already established himself with 25 films between 1943 and 1944, including Cry 'Havoc' (uncredited), When Strangers Marry (as Bob), and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. Loaned by RKO to Lester Cowan, he was cast as Captain Bill Walker, a character inspired by Captain Henry T. Waskow, the subject of one of war correspondent Ernie Pyle’s more famous columns. It and many others were adapted to make up the  Story of GI Joe.

J. Carrol Naish was the definition of a character actor. Despite his purely Irish heritage, his dark, swarthy looks saw him cast as every ethnicity except Irish - Italians, Mexicans, Native Americans, Chinese, Arabs - which he portrayed in supporting parts and cameos, credited and uncredited, in a prolific career that spanned over 40 years and over 128 films! In A Medal for Benny, he plays a Paisano - "of mixed Indian and Spanish Blood" - whose ne'erdowell son is awarded a posthumous medal of bravery.

My ranking of these nominees, from fifth to first:

The Last of It: 1945, Part Nine

November and December 1945. By the end of the year, the Nuremberg Trials begin, revolution breaks out in Indonesia, and 51 nations join the United Nations. The year began with a world at war and ended with a world determined to find peace, even as some nations were still struggling to establish their independence from colonial rule (not just Indonesia; India was also trying to get the Brits out, while civil war continued in China).

Hollywood-wise, the heavy-hitters at the Oscars all came from the last two months of the year. Deliberately saved 'til the last minute by the studios, or just recency bias from weary voters momentarily looking up from post-War news? Whatever the reason, eleven of the twelve following films wound up nominated for Academy Awards:

Right After That: 1945, An Intro

Our look at film years wherein Alfred Hitchcock was Oscar-nominated for Best Director continues with 1945. Just last week, we wrapped up 1944, a year in which Hitchcock lost to Leo McCarey for Going My Way, a juggernaut that took home seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.